Veteran left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat produced a sensational four-wicket haul, while Prerak Mankad put on an all-round show as Saurashtra thrashed Karnataka by five wickets to sail into the Vijay Hazare Trophy final in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Unadkat rocked Karnataka’s top-order, dismissing skipper Mayank Agarwal (1) and keeper-batter BR Sharath (3) cheaply before Mankad reduced Karnataka to 47 for 4 inside 19 overs with wickets of Nikin Jose (12) and Manish Pandey (0) in the space of four balls. Such was their misery that seven Karnataka batters failed to get to double digits as their innings folded for 171 in 49.1 overs.
In reply, former champions Saurashtra romped home in 36.2 overs with No 3 batter Jay Gohil top-scoring with a 82-ball 61-run knock which was studded with eight fours and one six. Mankad also made a key contribution of 35 from 32 balls as he along with Gohil put on a vital 53-run partnership to virtually seal the issue.
Earlier, opener Ravikumar Samarth (88; 135b; 4×4, 1×6) held the Karnataka innings with a valiant half-century but with wickets falling around him he lost his patience and became Unadkat’s third victim. ‘It’s a great feeling. When we came into the knockout phase, we were hoping to strike at the right time. Cannot get better than this’, Unadkat said. ‘It was excellent to see the performance, with the ball, and with the bat. I think after winning the toss, I had to strike early. The way I have been bowling in the tournament, I was confident. The guys bowled well after that pressure built up’.
Brief Scores: Karnataka 171; 49.1 overs (Ravikumar Samarth 88; Jaydev Unadkat 4/26, Prerak Mankad 2/34) lost to Saurashtra 141/5; 31 overs (Jay Gohil 61, Mankad 35, Samarth Vyas 33; Krishnappa Gowtham 2/50) by five wickets.
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